Speed Shrinking

This book was, actually, really great. I picked it up because I thought it would be interesting to read a book about the process of psychology in a novel way. The main character, Julia, finds herself alone and abandoned when her husband takes a job across the country, her best friend moves away, and her psychologist moves to another state. Being a counselor in training, however, I was a little hesitant and thought it might butcher the actual "shrink" perspective of the book. To my surprise and pleasure,it did a really good job of keeping the truth to the counseling process, while not getting too bogged down with the "process" of counseling.

I loved reading about the inner thoughts of a NYC self-help guru. I was impressed with the depth and introspection the author gave to her main character, and loved reading about the different theories different counselors and psychologists used. The author vaguely skimmed over those different theories and techniques, but I still enjoyed reading them.

It was a fairly quick read for me, but one that I would recommend. Although a little heady at times, if you're into psychology and New York City then go rent it from your local lib!

Living Boldly

I'm 24 years old and for some reason I've got this idea in my head that I won't make any mistakes in my life. I'll make small mistakes like forgetting things and maybe getting a speeding ticket (oh wait that was last month). However, I have this lofty idea that I won't make major life mistakes; that I'll know all about a topic before I actually deal with the topic and that I won't have to readjust my thinking very much.

Oh how wrong am I?

I've recently realized this is a twisted part of my thinking pattern. I'm thankful I realized this, but know it's something that's hard to change overnight.

My professor once told me to "Sin bravely and live joyfully in the presence of the Lord." I don't think that quote was meant for everyone, but it really spoke to me. The context behind his statement reminds me that I will sin in my life because I'm human. I can't prevent myself from making mistakes, but I can try my hardest to be brave in whatever I do.

"give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
1 Thessalonians 5:18

If When I sin, I will repent and live joyfully, because all I can do, is all I can do.

Football

The football season is upon us, thank the Lord. This means Georgia plays, I get to do fantasy football and my flag football team is back in session. Life is good.

Next weekend I'm going back to Georgia to watch my little brother play football for the varsity team at my old high school. I'm excited to act like a maniac and be his biggest fan, even if I look like the biggest fool. I'm a proud older sister, what can I say?

The fall not only makes me think of football, but also boots, sweaters, cider, apples and leaves changing. Although I've never lived in a place that experiences all four seasons for 3 months each, I do appreciate the cool breeze that blows in the morning and night.

And of course, the football!

Libraries

In grad school they talk to us a lot about self care and making sure that we are not getting burned out due to the nature of the counseling profession. I feel lame and boring when I say it but part of self care for me is reading so I love going to public libraries. I've been reading The Lord of the Rings lately, but sometimes it's a little much. So after working today with  a screaming baby that wanted to be held all afternoon, I drove over and joined my local library!

I'm pretty sure I could easily spend two hours there browsing and selecting the next book to read. It's so quiet and I leave feeling relaxed. I also leave feeling a little bit like I've "stuck it to the man," because I get to read new and bestselling books without buying them! Winning!

Interesting fact... the average American checks out 7 books a year from the local library. If they broke that down by age group I think my age group would be quite a bit below that, but who's counting?

What I'm Into Right Now

Sunday night swims with my small group. My room looks like this the next day as I lay everything out to dry, but it's too fun to care.

Listening to these guys while studying. Can I say they're my new favorite band? Sorry Ray LaMontagne, The Killers and Citizen Cope but you'll have to make room for Young the Giant.

Doing work at Starbucks. Maybe it's the hustle and bustle around me, or maybe it's just the caffeine (probably the caffeine) but I get work done and enjoy getting out into the community a little bit.

This nail polish. It stays glossy even after trudging through the sand, it doesn't chip on my hands and I've gotten lots of compliments on the color! Plus the name, Tangerine Crush, just rings of summer to me. 

The fact that I'll be 24 next week!!

Contentment

I have been living here for 10 months. That is crazy talk. So here are some fun memories from my time here.

Catching this touchdown!

Attending Passion 2012 at the Georgia Dome!

Watching this bearded lizard the kids I nanny own.

The building where I attend all of my classes.

The text I got at that ungodly hour from my friends informing me they were heading to Atlanta from Virginia to attend Passion 2012.

My friend Ashley and I took a day trip to DC on what happened to be the rainiest day ever but we still had a good time.

My roommate and I at the Norfolk Tides game.

Celebrating the bride (pink skirt) at her bridal luncheon in Chattanooga, TN.

Nannying these two goofballs.

Visiting Charleston, SC and getting to see Brad and this gate which was made into a necklace I own.

Playing with these two cuties a lot.

From our visit to Zoo Atlanta. I took this picture with a monkey named Grant and a bronze gorilla statue.

Running the Shamrock 8K in 48 minutes!

Gavin DeGraw in concert at Norfolk Harborfest fo free!!

The Andy Warhol exhibit at the museum around here. They have the coolest t-shirts; I will own one eventually.

Budgeting

I've always been a fan of the principle "spend less than you make." I thought it was enough to pay off my credit card each month and call it a day. I mean I am in grad school so it's not like there are too many questions about where it goes. Food, tuition and rent about sums up my three biggest monthly expenditures.

In the spring, however I took a free Dave Ramsey class offered on campus. Money has always intrigued me; how to spend it, how to save it, etc. So I signed up and everything made sense and I did most of the things he recommended EXCEPT budget.

Fast forward about a month and I have a new job with a consistent monthly income so I decide to give budgeting a whirl... Because that's how budgeting works... on a whim.

Let me tell you, I don't much like the word no from others, which is why I hesitate to use it on myself when it comes to my spending. Hence my lack of a budget and my blown food budget from the month of May. I mean blown. Wow. Good thing May ended and it's June which means a fresh start.

If you'd asked me before what was holding me back from budgeting I would have said either my poor math skills or my inconsistent income from part time jobs. However, I can now say the true reason I didn't stick to it was because I have a really hard time saying "no" to myself. Self control is a fruit of the spirit that I'm lacking.

I'm here to tell you that conviction, money management and self control are all good and healthy and lessons I've learned this past month.

So with that, here's to hoping for even better self control in June.

Relationships

Moving away from a community of close friends and family has made me realize the importance of not only keeping those close relationships I had but also making new relationships.

I went home for Christmas break and got to babysit Grace again. I've watched her over the past two summers all day long and sometimes overnight on weekends her parents and brothers go out of town. She's 6 years old but we're best friends I feel like. She's cute and really funny and smart and she loves me too. Over break I was babysitting her one weekend. She took the bus home and I was waiting on the front steps for her to get off the bus. I hadn't seen her since October at this point and didn't know what her reaction would be like. Sometimes she's really shy and sometimes she's very affectionate. Well this particular day she was so excited to see me that she ran off the bus and sprinted to me with her arms open wide yelling "Emily Emily!" It was the best way I could have started off Christmas break.

I ran to her and gave her a hug and we got to spend the whole rest of the weekend together. We also talked about our love of summery patterns on clothes and we sat on the swing and sand Adele's Someone Like You because yes she knows all the words.

Just getting to be with her was such a blessing and I'm still happy thinking about that time I got to spend with her. I'm no where near getting married but I've already decided she'll either be a flower girl or junior bridesmaid in my wedding. I feel so lucky to have a relationship like that with her.

I also got to see some other close friends and there's nothing like the familiarity that comes with being around someone you know so well and they know you so well and there is total acceptance there. I love being in relationships like that and I'm so thankful I got to experience those over break as well.

Now, being back in Virginia, I'm starting to realize that I've got relationships like that here. Not as close yet but definitely on their way to have that familiarity and mutual love and appreciation.

A Soft Place to Land

I read A Soft Place to Land by Susan Rebecca White and I really liked it.

It's about two girls whose parents died when they were 13 and 17 respectively. They are half sisters so when their parents passed away the older daughter went to live with her father in Virginia and the younger one went to live in San Francisco with her aunt and uncle.

The girls grew up in Atlanta so I loved that the author mentioned so many Atlanta/ Buckhead places I was familiar with. It was a little taste of home as I read it up here.

I love books written from the narrative perspective of a character because you really get to understand their thought processes and they develop as someone I can really identify with in the story. This main character had problems she was reeling from because of the death of her parents and other life choices she made so I loved seeing her struggle and wrestle with the problems.

It was a great book and it made me hunger for more books by Southern authors- especially Atlanta ones.

Jane Eyre

So I finished Jane Eyre about two months ago but haven't had the thoughts to write about it. Well let me just say I loved loved loved it. People have recommended it to me but I hadn't heeded their advice yet. It was because when I was younger I watched about 15 minutes of the movie on tv and it was so sad that i didn't want to ever read that book.

How wrong could I have been. I loved her humor and her wit. She talked to herself all the time and tried to talk herself out of having a crush all the time. I found myself understanding myself better by reading her words. it was so great to read about a heroine that was young and independent and funny and smart. I could not have read a better book at that time in my life.

You should definitely read it. Anyone would benefit from Jane Eyre's wit, her honesty and hopefully you'll laugh out loud a couple times like I did.